


Number One

by Hester (hester4418)



Series: Guess Who? [12]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen, Guess the characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4008949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hester4418/pseuds/Hester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet written in response to VAMB's "Guess the Pairing Contest 2015". The object was to write short stories about any pairing of established characters without mentioning any names, and then for the readers to guess the protagonists. Come and have a try! ;-)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Number One

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Star Trek: Voyager and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story however belongs to me.
> 
> Written February/March 2015.
> 
> The correct answer is listed at the bottom of the story - I've put in some spoiler space, so if you want to guess, don't scroll down too quickly!

I'm her Number One, leader of the pack, always first in line. She can tell by the chink in my armor, minute though it is, and unfailingly places me first. I think I deserve it. I've been with her from the very beginning, the herald of a new era in her life. Her 'good luck charm', as someone once called me. I'm not sure if that's true. But then again, she survived the crash and he didn't, so maybe he was right.

I'm a social being and like to be in the company of others like me, so I was thrilled when, after a period of solitariness, I finally received a companion. However, my joy was short-lived. The new arrival considered himself above my station, higher in rank, and kept making snide comments about my bland look. As if the addition of a little black would make that much of a difference! I was glad to see him replaced, in time, by someone more like myself. Over the years, 'Mr. Aloof' was back twice more, with his ego inflated first three- and then four-fold. The day he was retired for good, the rest of us were quite relieved. We're a close-knit group of four equals now, although the other three do look up to me somewhat since I continue to be first in line. Still I know that without the others, I wouldn't be worth a quarter of what we are to her as a group. We're her most loyal supporters, the visual confirmation of what she's achieved, the proof and the symbol of the power she wields.

We're also most attuned to her emotional state − when her pulse starts to race, I can't help but quiver a little. Every blush, be it caused by embarrassment or anger, is keenly felt by all of us, and every shiver that passes through her also passes through us. Always being at the forefront of the action means that I'm privy to everything, even confidential meetings or her personal log recordings, but I'd be unable of ever betraying her confidence.

After that other dreadful shuttle crash a few months ago, I was the first to feel her life ebb away. When the beat of her heart slowed and faded, I felt myself going icy cold. Once they revived her, the heat that flooded my being was the most wonderful feeling in the world. I wish I could say that this was a one-time occurrence, but the truth is that her life and her job are full of dangers. And even though our presence secures her respect and influence, we are in no position to protect her against bodily harm.

Sometimes I wonder if her life would be easier without us, but I know that she'd never willingly give us up. We mean too much to her, and she's worked too hard to earn every single one of us. Maybe, just maybe, she'll trade us in once Voyager returns to the Alpha Quadrant, maybe she won't even be given a choice, for better or for worse. But somehow I know that she'll keep me, probably even keep us all, to remind her of Voyager's long and perilous journey and of the fact that we enabled her to make a difference now and then.

-==/ The End \==-

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_-==/ Janeway's first rank pip \==-_

_If you've read "Witness" (story #8 of this series), you'll know why I wrote_ this _story. ;-)_


End file.
